


Of Love and Adventure

by GoldenGail3



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aerlinna is an unknown entity, Asshole Thranduil, Brother-Sister Relationships, F/M, Family Drama, Family Feels, Friendship/Love, High Fantasy, LOTR bookverse and movie verse fusion, Loving Marriage, Not a Marry Sue, Parent Thranduil, Period-Typical Sexism, Racism, Realistic, Sibling Rivalry, Sister-Sister Relationship, Slow Burn, Thranduil's wife is still alive, and I thought she was epic so shes in this, given what period of time lotr is in, indeed there is sexism, more like fantasy racism, not gonna push it in your face tho, poor Elrond kay, the op is like 2 thousand years old, to other people besides his family ye
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-10-19 08:25:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17597780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenGail3/pseuds/GoldenGail3
Summary: Lord Elrond's youngest child, Esther, joins the Fellowship on their quest to save Arda from ruin at the hands of Sauron.





	1. Year of Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> The point of this character is to show that female protagonists - like male ones, can have just as much depth and character to them. To me, personally, as a young young lady, its been really quite hard to find one, and without demeaning the opposite sex nevertheless. 
> 
> Sorry for ranting, but I've found it really hard to find a female protagonist that I, as a young lady, can relate too.

Rivendell,

Year 1050 Third Century,

It was a beautiful day and Lord Elrond and his lady wife, Celebrian, were sitting in their private quarters as to discuss a very private thing. The Lord of the House was holding his lady's hand, as she sat besides him on the soft light-emerald coloured coach. They were looking over reports sent by one of their diplomats - in this case, in regards to the fall of the formerly known Great Greenwood. It had fallen under so more corruption at the Enemy's hand, that it was now dubbed Mirkwood, for it was a rather murky forest nowadays. He found that most concerning that the Enemy decided to strike at the heart of the forest - even though he was supposedly long since dead. Elrond had this suspicion that the enemy wasn't yet defeated due to the failings of Isildur to destroy the One Ring as It was meant to be destroyed.

"The Great Greenwood has fallen under the darkness of Mordor, which worries me as well as King Thranduil." There were other things that worried Elrond - in regards to Mordor. It's power was growing as of late, and supposedly, the growing darkness could even be felt in Lorien. He stared at his wife, of whom stood besides him. The Lady Celebrian was considered one of the most lovely amongst the elves, with long honey-gold coloured hair, a small, yet delicate face, and bright brown-colored eyes. She also wore a gentle blue-colored toga-like dress, of which was pinned together by the symbol of House Galadriel. Her eyes flickered with warmth and intelligence, like her mother's, and she held his hand admirably. Sometimes, he just needed a minute away from the hustle and bustle of his Kingdom to spend a minute or two with his lady wife.

"Yes, but Gondor grows stronger each day. It is said that it's more than a match for Mordor's grasping power at any rate." She sounded so positive about this - but she like him, had seen the fall of the Númenóreans at the hands of Sauron. He couldn't be so sure as to trust _men_ on that, for they were easy to be led astray by Sauron and into his grasping little fingers as it was. All he wanted was power, and he was gaining it, by torturing men and elves alike into the blasted corrupted race known as the Orcs. But besides, he was an intelligent being - Elrond had thought him dead when his mortal being was killed when Numenor fell under the sea, but no, that corrupt ring had saved him, for it held a part of his soul within it.

He shrugged, "Similar tidings have been said about Numeron before Sauron grew jealous of its power and wished to subdue it." He wanted an alliance with King Thranduil - of whom he believed was rather wild and uncontrollable man actually, despite being related to Thongol himself (through his younger brother, Elmo), but that connection was nothing of importance right now. He had a daughter, the wild youth of Esther, and the King of the Wild Elves had a son whom was in need of a wife whom would become his Queen someday no doubt, and such a marriage would forge a powerful alliance between the two nations. He needed all the allies he could possibly manage right now, even from the wild Wood Elf folk.

"And he did. I remember it, you know, one of my brother's died fighting the Black Numereon's as you know. I know how man can fall prey to evil, but not all men are evil and I do indeed have faith in the new Sea Kings of Gondor." She sounded so hopeful for humanity, unlike himself, and he should be the most hopeful one of all. For his twin brother was a human - and his line still lived, but they had been corrupted by Sauron though. He spent many nights sleepless wondering how Elros would've responded all this madness coming forth from his descendants and what came to mind wasn't exactly pleasant, to say the least.

"Hmm, regardless I think we should do something less another evil arises again and we are all alone to fight it. I don't.. particularly want to deal with the dwarves, seeing what they did to our last homeland." Those dwarves were a lot of untrustworthy folk, seeing as though they sacked Doriath, Thingol's homeland. In fact, he trusted humans far more than them, despite what they did in Numeroen for the evil purposes of Sauron.

She sighed, as she walked out the balcony before her. The air was warm, the sky was beautiful and bright today. A beautiful summerday it was indeed, and the sounds of the waterfall coming from the Misty Mountains made the mood in the air all the more pleasurable - to both of them, as he could feel ripples of pleasure coming off of his beloved wife as they stood on the simple white-coloured balcony that overlooked the vast valley. "My mother doesn't like dwarves either, so I don't blame you for thinking lesser of them." He vaguely remembered that Galadriel had indeed escaped from Doriath as the bloody Dwarves had sacked and burned the place after killing Thongol.

"But regardless, we need to make a plan on what to do in case.. he rises again." He had this innate suspicion that Sauron wasn't quite dead, and it troubled him greatly. He was more than willing to give up his two-daughters to the humans and to the wild Prince of the newly dubbed Mirkwood if it need be. As for his sons, he'd train them to fight, fight against those orcish barbarians that tried to invade his land, his family. He'd do anything if it meant keeping Rivendell from ending up like the Gondolin, the Hidden Kingdom of his father before him.

She nodded at him. "I know you are nervous, my husband, I can feel it and understand why you'd be so skittish about this. The Dark Lord rising would be the end of our sweet life here, but it could be hundreds or even thousands of years until he rises once more in his full glory, if we're lucky that is. Maybe perhaps, today and tomorrow, and as long as time provides us, we raise our children in the light and to fight the darkness, if they need to." She did make a lot of sense in that regard, and thus, he'd likely submit to her wishes.

He chuckled, hugging her before giving her a proper kiss.. She wasn't wrong - yes, their children should be raised in a place of gayness and safety, but caution was always a thing they had to be, even in such nice times, even in times of peace and plentiful, for there was always danger lurking in the shadows, unbeknownst to all. She also probably could feel the anxiety he felt through the love bond they shared, likewise he could feel her weariness of which he just wanted to kiss away to be honest. He just wanted her right now, nobody else _could_ possibly destroy this moment with his most beloved Celebrain.


	2. The Lady of the Forest

 

Mirkwood,

 

Year 3017 Third Century,

 

The escape of Golem and the attack on his guards via orcs had sent father into such a searing rage that Legolas felt oddly frightened as he stood before his father. He sat on his throne, with a look of utter most disdain - not at himself mind you, but at the orkish invaders, with a crown of flowers seeing as though it was in the midst of summer. His father’s emerald green eyes were full of fire right now - like those that Legolas would usually see whenever his father dealt with Dwarves. It was a look of fearsomeness, indeed, like he wanted to go and kill them with his stag, the great white beast known as Autumn, with his long elongated snowy white colored altners and immense size. But alas, this was not a story about Thranduil’s great beast - but rather the man himself. Thranduil, his father, was also towering on his magically grown Redwood tree throne; and since it was spring, there were gentle pink flowers on it - which should’ve made it less intimidating, really, to look at the flowery King. He even had a bundle of many different roses & flowers from the land and such on his long golden mane; yet he still looked like a killer. He even had a sword sheathed into his belt buckle and he wore a dress of Dwarven Mithril to add to it; his father said that he got it off the body of a dead warrior Dwarf in Dorath, which is one of the reasons he wore it so. He had even decorated his prize by adding customizing it to change color throughout the session and right now, it was a soft brown-color to boot.  

 

Besides him on a smaller throne, a throne made out a living Maple Tree, was  his mother, Queen Ninddîs, with her flowing mud-colored hair and warm deep-brown colored eyes, like those of a oak tree. She was dressed in a soft marigold colored long dress, albeit with shorter sleeves, most likely for the session, and her hair was tied up in a gentle pony tail. She had greys in her hair, which they all could see - including his father, although he never said anything about it.  She looked deeply concerned, which brought out some of the worried wrinkles in her cheeks, as her warm eyes bore down at her, and then she looked at her husband for him to snort indigiously. He gave her something of a guilty look for his anger; his father was always very apologetic to his mother whenever his temper got the best of him, which was a great deal of times. His father naturally had a short temper, even at the best of times. He wondered if he was sorry when he went and kidnapped those dwarves when they were trespassing through Mirkwood all of those many years ago but he very much doubted it though.

 

“I have brought you today to do a favor for me - you shall go bearing news to Elrond the Half-Elf of the insufferable little creature known as Golem, of whom has escaped from my possession in the midst of a Orc attack. I want him to know, in the case he somehow finds the creature.” He nodded, before bowing before his father. He’d do whatever his father, his King, wanted him to do - but first, he wanted to say goodbye to Locien, his little brother, before departing to Nordor lands.

 

“Father, may I say goodbye to Locien before I go?” He knew Locien would’ve liked it, as he knew the boy heavily looked up to him for advice and such. His father gave him a half-moon smile as a response to that and his mother smiled upon hearing that,  which removed some of the worried wrinkles off of her usually smooth-looking cheeks. She didn’t say anything, but he doubted she needed to, given the look on father’s face at the suggestion.

 

“Of course I wouldn’t expect otherwise, your younger brother, I do believe he’s hunting for frogs in the trees. I wouldn’t expect anything less of him.” Father spoke with such gayness in regards to Lucien, of whom was his fifth born son. His older brothers had both died when the bloody dwarves attacked Doriath - and had nearly killed his mother for shame, which had about broken Thranduil, or so he had heard. But he actually believed this rumor, given he had heard his father singing sadly about that very event, when of course he thought nobody was listening. It was some of the sadness singing he had ever head, and he was a three thousand year old Eldar - he remembered it had brought cheers to his cheeks when he had heard it. His father was an amazing singer even amongst the elves, even though supposedly he kept it secret lest any of his subjects think weakly of him. But regardless, his little brother was a bright little thing which kept both of their parents - or just his mother - busy every single second of the day. He was only about fifty, which in human terms would mean that he was about six years old, a mere baby really.

 

“Alright.” He smirked - he knew exactly where he was. He use to do the exact same thing, when he was a child too, and he knew the best areas for frog-hunting as a result of doing things similarly… even though his brother was bloody crazy for doing so, less he attract the attention of those dratted spiders of whom lived up in the trees above them. But then again, Lucien was an immortal little boy of whom probably learned to avoid them with a great deal of pratice . He gave his mother a wink and a smile before he walked off - he’d no doubt say more things to her in the future.

 

He’d take a ganger where he was, as he walked alongside the trees, hearing their harmonious voices. He wanted to ask them where Lucien was, but he didn’t need too, as they were laughing - not maliciously mind you, but in amusement, at what the young Prince was doing. The little boy was sitting in a tree above him - and with a mischievous grin, he jumped down with the super human strength only youngsters had - and not to mention, the tree in question wasn't too big, so he wouldn't die anyhow.  

 

“Legolas! Hello! I was waiting for you!” He gave him a big smile as he jumped off the tree and fell gently onto the ground. The boy had father’s golden locks, unlike himself, of whom ended up with his mother’s chestnut hair, and bright brown-colored eyes. He was also dressed in a green-yellow colored tunic and pants. He wasn’t wearing any shoes, and had this mischievous glint in his eyes, but he ran to him and gave him a large hug. He brushed the boy's golden curls with his hands, as the little boy looked up at him with his bright brown-colored eyes.

 

He smiled softly, as he hugged his little brother back. “I’m going to Rivendell, Lucien. Take care of mother and _neth_ for me, will you?” The little boy gave him a bright smile as he held onto his bag of presumably freshly caught Tree Frogs. It was unlikely that Thranduil would allow him to kill them though - he was very strict of what people could hunt in the forest, and they didn’t really eat meat in the household - unless it was boar. Thranduil went on hunts for legendary sized boars every so often by elves standards - so lets say a thousand year or so, and it was considered a great event amongst their people, whenever Thranduil went on a great hunt. But otherwise, they were vegetarians and only ate wild berries and such, mostly to preserve the wildlife in the forest.

 

“Yes, _h’anar_.” The Fifty year old responded with a big dimpled smile adoring his oval shaped face. He was quite cute, with mother’s dark eye lashes and father’s smile - if he ever smiled that was - then the produce would be what was before him. The little boy also has dimples on his soft oval-shaped cheeks, which made him look even cuter.

 

He brushed the boy’s hair before gently separating from his soft grasp. The look of admiration in the boy’s brown eyes wasn’t lost on him - he’d remember it as he took his horse, the gentle Aerlinn, out of the forest that he called home, on a road lest taken by all but his own family, as it was a rather soft grassy road with wild grown roses and strawberries on the side of the rather hastily made trail - but you see, it was used so very rarely because it led to the Centre of the Forest, where the Lady dwelled. He wanted some advice before he hit the road, and whom better was it from but the Lady of Mirkwood? She whom saw the world before the sun and stars - the elves called her Aerlinn, as they could often hear her singing in some ancient tongue, before she suddenly stopped and disappeared back into the folds of the forest, for some unknown reason. He’d compare her to the entity known as Tom Bombabill, seeing as though it appeared that she was here before them.

 

He could hear her singing, her soft song, as he came closer to her gentle grove. He had never seen her before, so he was nervous to say in the least.

 

She stopped singing suddenly, and for some reason, he found himself face to face with her. She was beautiful in an very ancient way, with her having long thick green-colored hair that was as thick as moss and eyes so deep a brown, they seemed to be the color of all the trees. Her dress, well, he couldn’t see it as it kept on blending into the background.

 

“Are you the fair brennil Aerlinn?” She gave him a smile of sorts. She had the most chilling smile, even with full lips - for she had bugs of all sorts hanging around her teeth. He was vaguely reminded of a demon, in actuality. She didn't seem to care though and even gave him a chuckle, which was as clear as dawn and he could almost hear it everywhere, as though she herself was the forest. He didn't understand her - nor her nature - and found it to be very alien, an not in a comforting way either

 

“Tangada, nín brannon ned ‘brethil’ avtar, as your race likes to call itself. It’s very cute, you know, but everyone forgets about Aerlinn. Even my own husband did, when he looked at a waterfall for too long. They only remember me for my singing, your people, and thus that’s why they named me in your tongue, song.” She sighed besides herself, as her robes of dirt flowed before her. He had heard of her's from his father - a many times actually. Thranduil seemed to find her most interesting, even though when he had met her, he was already married to his mother by that point - and elves only loved once in their entire lives, so he had no inkling of any attraction towards her. He himself though, he considered her to be extremely attractive, with her pale as a ghost skin, her beautiful melodic voice...  _Your gonna get married Legolas, get a hold of yourself._ The sane tiny voice at the back of his head said, but the other side of his head laughed,  _You've already broken your promise to her before with Tauriel..._

 

Something must've snaped within him, because he soon realized he had no idea how she got there without him noticing. He felt himself glowing red with embarrassment as a result, that he'd think about this mysterious entity in such a way. Maybe that was why she did what no other elf could do - pass through without him noticing. As an archer, he knew something about stealth and such - so of course, he'd know something about it.

 

“You seem shocked to see me, but I am the Lady of the Forest, as your people dubbed me. I can be anywhere, at any time, if I so pleased.” At that she popped somewhere else to give him a wave suddenly. How she managed to do with was unknown, and she wouldn’t tell anyone else about it - not even his grandfather, of whom it was said had an affair with her, but she wouldn’t say for certain.

 

“How do you do that?” He wondered vaguely, even knowing he wouldn’t get any answers out of her. He had visited once before, and she had been extremely vague on everything about her abilities and such.

 

“Tis is the gift the Dawn before man gave to me, but in exchange, I was forever cursed to fade away until nobody could see me again.” She sighed, “and that my husband was doomed to stare at himself in a bloody river forevermore until he also faded away into the world.” She sounded so _very_ sad over this. It was moments like these when Legolas felt youthful in comparison to some of the other Elvhen he’s encountered thus far.

 

He cut the chase to avoid any more monologing about past and future things. “I need advice, my lady.” Whatever words he said were said in secrecy and thus nobody heard them besides for the Lady and himself, but whatever she said seemed to have a great impact on him as he rode off into the distance, whilst the Lady sang in her ancient tongue that nobody had heard before, but sounded as beautiful and heart-breaking as the Lady herself was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes what The Lady of the Forest and Legolas discussed will indeed be in future chapters alright.
> 
> Neith - little sister in Sindarin,  
> H'nar - brother in Sindarin,  
> Tangada, nín brannon ned brethil avtar - Indeed, my lord of wood elves (at least that's how its roughly translated as)  
> brennil - lady in Sindarin


	3. Ladies of Rivendell

Rivendell,

“Your fiance is coming to grace us with a visit, Esther.” Her father had brought her to the side to say this. His grey eyes looked at her with the uttermost concern - for she had never been the best behaved, since her mother got attacked and raped by orcs, she had this untameable hatred for orcs which sent her and her brother’s off to many distance places alongside their friends the Rangers. 

“The fiance I’ve never met before is coming to visit? How pleasurable. I hope he’s not as wild as you say his father is.” She had indeed, heard of the fearsome temper and wilderness of King Thandruil. She had no idea if Legolas was just as wild as he was, but her father said that the King was a good man, full of regret and loathing since the Last Alliance. But she hadn’t an idea about the son, which made her more nervous than she let on.

“Now, if he is, your not to judge him, Esther. Hé’s to be a guest at these halls and we treat all guests equally.” _Including bloody Dwarves… but we have to play friendly with the dwarves that provide us water._ She’d think disingenuously. She had this unconscious bias against those little people, despite her mother’s soft attempts to warm them to Durían’s folk up in the Frost Mountains, it always seemly failed. The Dwarves thought them too untrustworthy - an irony not lost on herself or on her brother’s, to trade with, thus forcing them to think of other solutions. It ended up with them learning how to fish, hunt in the wilds, and general survival things. 

“Yes, even Dwarves. Say, you invited some of Duríans ‘trusty’ folk up here as well - what exactly is happening, father? Sister coming home after fifty years in Loríen, Estel off Valor’s know where..."  He knew she would hound him with questions, but he simply raised his hand as if to command her to stop speaking. She had to listen, for he was her Lord, the master of the House, and she had to respect that. As for the hobbits, she knew of them since Bilbo's arrival here 50 years ago - in fact, she was one of those whom teased the Dwarves when they came here. She remembered Thorin Oakenshield scowling deeply at her, before he talked to his father about his elven sword he obtained from a den of frozen Trolls. She remembered Thorin fairly well, indeed.

“Esther, your questions shall be answered - soon, but for now, please be patient.” He sighed, staring at her. His grey eyes looked like they were gently pleading with her, like they were begging her to listen to logic and reason. 

She nodded and bowed before him, as was proper of a lady to her lord, and left the room quickly. She looked herself in the mirror - she was such a tiny, scrawny thing, with a head of choppily cut raven-colored hair. She remembered that a Orc had cut off the braid she once wore because he found it pretty. She wondered what he did with her hair, but nothing quite pleasant came in mind, her eyes were round and soft around the edges like her mother’s, but the eye color was a sharp grey. She was considered a highly lesser version of Arwyn, the blessed Everstar, which annoyed her to no end.

She sat on the gentle olive-colored couch before looking away from the mirror. In the mirror, she could see she was wearing a soft royal purple-colored toga which hid her small breasts gracefully enough. She hadn’t had a problem wearing them, as it was what being a proper lady was about, but she far prefered playing a man than some helpless Elven Maiden.

She sighed, before Arwyn the Beautiful entered the room. It was just after father left as well - what a funny coincidence indeed. She was clad in a lovely Loríen made silk dress which extended past her shoulders, down her back, and gently landing on her knees. Her jet-black hair fell down her back like a waterfall, and appeared healthy. It also had tiny little rose petals in it, as though it gave her a even more sincere look. She had found wearing flowers in her hair to be the act of the uttermost pretentious person, but she wouldn’t tell her this - nor King Thranduil, seeing as though it was rumored his summer helm was made out of flowers.

“I miss Estel, sister.” She didn’t know how Arwyn had fallen for the bloody Ranger, but she knew Estel well enough, seeing as though she was there in his youth to see him grow up to being the man he is today.

“He is likely with _our_ brothers and the other rangers, hunting orcs across the mass of Arda.” Esther loathed them above all else for leaving her here, all by her lonesome. What did they expect, that she'd read a book or something? No, she wouldn't read, for she's read all the books of Rivendell a hundred times over and felt as though she could repeat them all by heart.

Arwyn became pale at the mention of orcs before looking away from her. Arwyn unlike herself, hated even hearing the word _orc_ seeing though they had raped mother previously.

“Why do you hate the word Orc, sister? They are but wild beasts - making them nameless only gives them more power over tho, and besides, they are not the Dark Lord.” She shrugged. The Dark Lord had indeed risen, but he was nought the Orcs themselves, she supposed, even though orcs were created by him via the corruption of elven kin long ago.

“Do not use the name of our mother’s rapist, sister, please I beg of you.” 

She huffed before standing up. “Tis solves nothing talking about this, so I shall coincide on your behest. How was Loríen, Grandmother’s land?” She vaguely wondered, seeing as though she herself had never been invited to Loríen, which Esther found was extremely unfair. She had always wanted to see it as a little one - for it was said to be golden trees and was the most beautiful place on Middle Earth, if you took out Rivendell. She loved Rivendell, for it’s soft, almost melodic like atmosphere it possessed.

Her eyes lit up in excitement. “You wouldn't believe it, even if I told you. But anyhow, Galadriel and Celeborn send their greetings upon thee.” 

She nodded, gently looking out the window. “I wish I could see it for myself. I was immensely jealous when father choice you to go Loríen, the golden forest. I was besides myself with such envy for a great deal of years over it.” She sighed - she had felt so much of it, she had to find someway to prove herself to father, so she choice to fight alongside the Rangers to prove herself.. To herself, actually.

“I heard you were off.. Fighting. Isn’t that a man’s sport, fighting?” Father had similar sentiments about it - but she was far too angry at what happened to mum to care what they thought about it, and she had even asked her brothers to secretly teach her how to fight and defend herself. After that, well, she had defied her father, of whom arrested her several times for her defiance, and even at some point, revoked her privillege to leave Rivendell. She sighed, it had also been hard to deal with, because she felt like such an annomly, like she didn’t belong anywhere. Her peers laughed behind her back and didn’t consider her to be worthy to join them in their own hunts, her own father didn’t accept his youthful daughter being a warrior, and most woman here were gently weavers. She really didn’t feel as though she belonged here, or anywhere else for that matter, for it was said to be even worse in human civility.

“Everyone says it is.” She shrugged indifferently. No, she hadn’t killed all of their arses for doubting her, for some whom doubted her were far more powerful than some three-thirds of an human anyhow. No, she _needed_ to prove herself in their eyes, like Lucíen did when she went to save Benor from the grasping fingers of Morgoth.

“Oh.” She softly said, “If it makes you feel better, grandfather taught me how to defend myself. He said he wouldn’t allow me to become like mother, of whom was helpless when the _orcs_ captured her.

“Well, good for you, sister.” _But your not me, your the better lady and the beautiful one besides._ She sighed, shrugged off, and felt a flinching temptation to walk off. But alas, she remembered her manners and stayed where she was.

“I just.. Wanted to say that your not all alone in this, little sister, if that’s what you think.” She responded delicately for Esther to shrug it off and talk about the forest once again. 

The two girls would spend from dusk to dawn discussing the many, many fineries of Loríen - to the secret jealousy of Esther nevertheless, but she played along with it because Arwyn was her blood sister. She felt even more so when Arwyn described grandmother sewing her own dress out of special material that they didn’t even get here in Rivendell. It was said to be strong and durable enough to prevent clothing from being teared and ripped, which would come in handy when fighting orcs as they sure do like tearing up clothes when their attempting to murder one’s person.


	4. Rivers and News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Legolas goes to Rivendell

Upon arriving there at the city of Rivendell, he got off of his horse to give it to some attendee. But you see, he also arrived there at about the same time as Bilbo did, of whom arrived rather late this time around. The others were no doubt bound to come around, at least eventually.

 

The city was beautiful, he had to admit, with its many rivers and canals coming into the gentle city. The city itself was composed of several things; the home district, of which sat snuggled into the mountain the city hid itself behind, was by far the biggest district to the city and was full of soft, budding light and like the rest of the city, was accessible by caneons and whatnot. Lord Elrond’s building was the biggest in the city though.

 

As it happened, the Hobbit known as Bilbo Baggins had also entered the city, and was being escorted by some Nordor hero. Legolas would decide to join them, because he himself had no idea how to get where he was suppose to get around the city despite travelling with Elrond’s sons, he had actually never been to Rivendell since now, which irritated him somewhat.

 

. The little hobbit also looked ancient, with having a head full of wispy white hairs and lots of wrinkles adoring his face. He also was carrying a walking stick - it was made out of fool’s gold, with a genuine ruby adored to the top of it, and his squirly blue eyes looked as clear as a youth’s would. He also barely hobbled when he strode confidently about with the stick as well. The other elf was dressed in chainmail and wasn’t smiling at all; he had thin lips and hard blue-colored eyes, along with a large, jagged scar across his oval shaped face. He also had long moonlight-colored hair which was kept underneath a spiked helm. He didn’t look the type whom joked around very much, leaving him and Bilbo to talk whilst he escorted them silently across the city.

 

“I’ve heard of you before, Bilbo Baggins, my father’s told me all about you.” However, he himself wasn’t there during the events of the Hobbit, as he was off helping the Rangers up north with something and he missed on everything that conspired in the Hobbit. “He said that he was honoured to make you Elf friend, and that he would do so again as you helped the Slivan people.” He gave him something of a small smile - even though when Bilbo and his friends came to Mirkwood, he was off somewhere else with the Rangers and wasn’t there at the time, although his mother told him all about it. She said she was one of the handmaids to feed the prisoners, like Thorin and such, when they were in the prisons that was - and that she was the one to convince his father to be more reasonable with them.  

 

“Ah, but I never saw you there, Prince Legolas.” Bilbo no doubt remembered seeing the crib of Locien, of whom was only a baby back in those days. “But do send my most humble regards to your father, will you?” _Whenever I return to Mirkwood, sure._ He’d think privately to himself.

 

“Tis is because I was off somewhere else during your stay at my father’s palace, but oh, I do not regret meeting the one whom convinced my father to fight for the people of Rivertown though.” He wouldn’t say anything about the dwarves though - Thorin was a greedy liar, as was his kin. Their stunt with barrels did however, seem vaguely amusing to Legolas though. His little brother likely would’ve laughed his head off about it though, seeing as Locien was a child, and children like him found such unwise things to be hysterical no doubt. He had also heard stories about what his former love interest, Tauriel, did during the Desolation of Smaug - it supposedly angered his father enough that he full out banished her, to where Legolas knew nought.

 

“Ah no doubt, but I’ve met your mother. She was quite lovely towards my companions when they off visiting the prisons.” Bilbo gave him something of a smile.

  
“I have no doubt Bilbo.” His mother had the reputation of being kindly - even towards dwarves, of whom hurt her really badly in Doriath. He sighed at the little hobbit, as he remembered his father singing about how much her getting hurt had _hurt_ him too. “She has a reputation for kindness and consideration of all things. Did you know she heals injured elk from our stock? Our father says the weakest of them should die, as nature intended, but she disagrees with them. She gives him something of compassion, even when he’s not aware of it.” Indeed, her nature made his father a better man - for example, he was lax in judging criminals even though he usually wasn’t, and was actually concerned about the creature Gollum’s safety when he escaped from them.

 

The Hobbit nodded vigorously, before they entered the citadel together. The silent elf besides them spoke at long last and he sounded indifferent.

 

“Welcome to Lord Elrond’s estate, travellers.” He stated dully, even blandly. “Be on your best behavior and such, it is to be expected seeing as though your our guests.”

 

Legolas nodded before he entered the shining white door of the podium.

 

__________

 

Her first impressions of him, Legolas, is that he was handsome. He was dressed simply in green colored travelling gear, but he was handsome, with muddy brown-colored hair that extended past his shoulders and brown-colored eyes. His face was also delicate looking, like King Thranduil’s was, but unlike the King, his eyes were warm. Thranduil was a hard arse, or so said her father.

 

“Greetings Lady Esther, Arwen, Lord Elrond. Honored to be in your house at this time.” He’d say politely. He’d also put his unsheathed white sword to the side, like a proper guest. Guests in this house did not wear weapons. She gave him something of a smile, before he approached Lord Elrond. She noted that he never once looked at her, and sighed besides herself - according to her people, she was a very bland version of Arwyn. Nobody would look at her twice without comparing her to her beautiful elder sister anyhow, and it was getting rather tiresome in her view.

 

“Thank you Prince Legolas, pleased to finally meet you.” Her father responded upon seeing him. His face was impassive, as stone would be. She long struggled to be as impassive as he was when dealing with people, but that didn’t mean she didn’t try though. She tried being as sincere as he was.

 

“I greet you on my behalf of my house’s honor, Elrond Half Elf, my father sends you a message of grave importance; the creature known as Gollum has escaped from our possession in Mirkwood, and we were attacked by the foul Orcs, of whom killed many of us before Thranduil, my father, took action to cleanse the forest of their filth. It the most important thing that we must get Gollum back, for he will bring nothing but trouble in his wake, even though he’s the most slippery of fellow’s, and such a momentous task will be more than my father can handle. We have no idea where he could be right now - he could be in Hobbiton harassing Bilbo’s nephew right now, for all we know.” Legolas sighed, sounding the most unhappy. _What does he propose we do? Finding someone like Gollum would be finding a needle in a haystack, even with all of our Kingdom’s power turned to find him._ And not to mention, he could just as easily be in Mordor with the Witch Kings to keep him company.

 

“That’s ill tidings indeed. I shall consult the Asauri on what course we shall take, whenever Saruman the White returns from Isengard. I also naturally assume Radagast will be joining us in this council, for he’s the Asauri of Mirkwood.” Legolas doubted Radagast had any idea where Gollum was, even though Radagast was one of Thranduil’s advisors, he was like them in being totally ignorant about Gollum. “I do know, however, that Gandalf the Grey shall be joining us shortly, alongside Bilbo’s nephew, Frodo Baggins. Or so I hear, but alas, the future's not set, but I would like to discuss this with Gandalf, seeing as though he’s the one whom brought you this creature - or am I incorrect about that.” No, it was him and Aragon whom caught the slippery bastard, but Gandalf did have a long discussion with him, supposedly.

 

He nodded before the intimidating figure known as Elrond, “No ser, it was me and Aragon… Estel… whom brought my father Gollum as a prisoner. It took us a fortnight to caroll him before my father, but Gandalf did have a long discussion with him about his past, or so I’ve heard, but the thing we encountered was a hissing, bitting, pathetic thing. But anyhow, I’d like to thank you for your assistance in this matter, my Lord. I hope this news will lead to more prosperity and peace between our two peoples. My father will be pleased when he hears of this - he has a personal interest in keeping the darkness as far as possible away from Mirkwood.” Elrond was an imposing figure, with long raven-colored hair and deep grey eyes that almost could tell what one was thinking. He also was dressed in long purple-colored robes, and stared at him like he was nothing more than a child, which he was by the standards of their people - in human terms, he was equivalent to being only about twenty-six years old.

 

“Yes, that also includes my daughter, Esther, as a part of the deal.” As for the young woman herself, well, Legolas didn’t actually see her. He wondered where she was.

  
“Yes ser.” He’d say. He was _actually_ nervous, like real nervous - he had slept with woman before her, which his father said was a bad idea because the Nordor held virginity sacred, but to actually meet his fiancee gave him the chills. He hoped that Elrond had no idea how he felt right now - and he hoped his look of neutrality was enough to get rid of any suspicion.


End file.
